One of the final pieces of business for Section 8 Chicago every calendar year is to finalize the candidate listing for the board elections which take place at the ISA’s Annual General Meeting set for the last weekend of January every year.

Much like American presidential candidates have a deadline to declare candidacy in order to receive federal funding, Section 8 board candidates had to declare their intention to run by posting to the ISA’s forums by midnight on Thursday.

Don’t like the American style two-party system? An interesting play in the Section 8 board elections is that candidates also list their group affiliation.

Though there are a number of different supporters groups that make up the umbrella of Section 8 Chicago, three (Ultras Red Side, Whiskey Brothers Aught Five and Westmont Ultras) are represented along with a number of folks who have no group affiliation (Independents).

In the coming weeks, candidates will lay out the plans they have for their positions via the Section 8 forums ahead of the AGM to be held January 26 (location to be confirmed). ALL Fire supporters are encouraged to attend the AGM and allowed to vote on board positions.

Find below the list of candidacies as well as their group affiliations and follow the race via the Section 8 forum:

Well you heard a bit about Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry spending time at Atletico Madrid last month. Our friends at Kick TV followed the Fire's defensive pair during their stay at the Calderon... Check out the video below!

Want to learn to play like a pro? Then train like a pro on one of the Chicago Fires Regional Talent Schools this winter. The RTS is an individual training program specifically designed for advanced travel soccer players looking to take their game to the next level.

The program consists of 90 minutes of instructional coaching over an 8 week period and presents a fantastic opportunity for soccer players aged 8-14 (Boys & Girls) to participate in an integrated supplementary training program beyond their club practices.

Praise to the heavens, for the first time in four years, the Fire won’t be charged with opening up a new stadium but that’s likely only because no new MLS grounds are set to open until 2014. See you then, San Jose.

In case you missed it, the Fire open up at two-time defending MLS Cup champions on Sunday, March 3 before returning home to host the New England Revolution for Opening Day at Toyota Park on Saturday, March 9.

Because Sporting KC opens up their first two matches on the road, we also found out that the Fire will be their opponent when they open their third season at LiveStrong Sporting Park on March 16.

Some interesting things you should know about the team’s first three games and opponents…

· If you felt a slight frost come over you with today’s announcement, it’s because both the March 3 First Kick match and March 9 Opening Day game will be the earliest competitive matches in club history.

· The earliest game in Fire history came in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match on March 16, 2002 at Guatemalan side CSD Municipal as the Men in Red used a 55th minute goal from Dema Kovalenko to take the first leg 1-0.

· The earliest home game in Fire history also came in the return leg four days later when Ante Razov and Carlos Bocanegra scored to give the Fire a 3-0 aggregate win and push them to the next round of the tournament.

· The Fire have actually played four of the team’s previous 15 home openers against New England, going 3-0-1 against the Revolution (2003: 1-1 draw, 2006: 3-3 draw, 2007: 1-0 win, 2008: 4-0 win)

· The Fire have faced at least one of their three opening opponents in 2013 in their first three matches 10 times out of 15 seasons.

· Much like the team opened up at home three years in a row against New England, they also had a spell between 1998-2000 that saw them face Kansas City in one of their first three matches of the year. In total, they’ve played Kansas City six times (1998, '99, '00, '03, '04, '11) inside their first three games of the season, going 3-2-1 in those instances.

· The First Kick match on March 3 marks the first time the Fire will open up a season against the LA Galaxy. It also marks the first time in club history the Fire will kickoff against the previous season’s MLS Cup champion.

· Overall, the Fire are a combined 5-3-4 when facing the three sides in their first three regular season matches of a campaign.

So what do you think of the first three matchups? What date are you picking in the “Full Schedule Release” pool?

While the MLS offseason continues to grow shorter and shorter, at times it can be slightly boring compared to the fast-paced nature of what comes from January to October (and hopefully November).

With #cf97withdrawals inhabiting my brain as I await the very big schedule announcement that will allow me to figure out what away cities I’d like to visit, I did have one thought and request from Major League Soccer…

WATCH: Nyarko's Blast from Distance (10/27/2012)

Over the last three seasons, MLS has found a way to schedule a match between the Fire and D.C. United in October and whether deserved or not, to their credit those games have always been memorable…

In 2010, the Fire’s last home game came against United, with perhaps the 0-0 draw being overshadowed by American soccer legend Brian McBride taking his final bow in his hometown of Chicago.

In 2011, who could forget the Fire’s incredible, “Capitol Comeback” which saw the team score two stoppage time goals to win the match after just conceding a Dwayne DeRosario penalty kick at RFK?

The 1-1 draw between the teams this past October was less memorable because of the result but still provided some excellent moments. Among them, Patrick Nyarko’s stunning goal from distance in the first half as well as the Fire’s late barrage on United goalkeeper Bill Hamid with playoff positioning on the line.

Maybe it’s just dumb luck or the MLS scheduling computer has psychic powers but each instance has provided moments that fans of at least one team won’t forget.

With that in mind, my request to the MLS league office as well as United:

Keep things going for 2013 and have the Fire host D.C. on Friday, October 25 to mark the 15 year anniversary of MLS Cup 1998. Why not package it as one of NBC Sports Network’s Friday night broadcasts?

With both teams showing reinvigorated form this past season, coupled with the famous Austin Berry/Nick DeLeon Rookie of the Year battle, perhaps the flames of rivalry that waned over recent years have been fanned once again.

Even better, Frank Klopas and Ben Olsen both played against each other in the match as did Josh Wolff who now serves as an assistant in D.C.

The storylines going in would be as good as any and if there’s as much to play for as when the two sides met this past October, it would have all the makings of being another memorable game, one that the Fire would hopefully win 2-0.

The openers are set to be announced any day now but there's plenty of time to make something like this happen before the full schedule release.